1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer-retrieved content, and more particularly to mechanisms for facilitating client-side communications among widgets that interact with computer-retrieved content.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet, sometimes called simply “the Net,” is a worldwide system of computer networks in which a client at any one computer may, with permission, obtain information from any other computer. The most widely used part of the Internet is the World Wide Web, often abbreviated “WWW,” which is commonly referred to as “the web.” The web may be defined as all the resources (e.g., web pages and web sites) and users on the Internet that use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or variations thereof to access the resources. A web site is a related collection of web files that includes a beginning file called a home page. From the home page, the user may navigate to other web pages on the web site. A web server program is a program that, using the client/server model and HTTP, serves the files that form the web pages of a web site to the web users, whose computers contain HTTP client programs (e.g., web browsers) that forward requests and display responses. A web server program may host one or more web sites.
In some instances, web pages may include widgets that may be configured to retrieve content from web servers or other sources and display or otherwise present the retrieved content to a user. Widgets may be configured to perform some degree of client-side processing of the retrieved data. Typically, widgets correspond to individual modules of code that may execute independently of one another. Web-based content that supports widgets may allow users to tune or customize their experience with the content, for example by replacing supplied widgets with other versions that may provide different functionality.